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Charles Oakley in exile from Knicks but still at home in Cleveland

Oakley has been estranged from the New York organization for years, a rift stemming from his inability to keep some of his more caustic opinions to himself.

The New York Knicks' Charles Oakley throws down a dunk during a playoff game against the Pacers in Indianapolis, May 13, 1998. (BARTON SILVERMAN / NYT FILE PHOTO)

By Scott Cacciola

Wed., Nov. 2, 2016

CLEVELAND—Charles Oakley pushed his hands into his pockets and peered at the small photo of himself on the street sign that bore his name. The younger version of himself in the photo was vintage Oakley: the high-top fade, the furrowed brow, the familiar blue and orange of his New York Knicks jersey.

“Not bad, huh?” Oakley said on an overcast afternoon last week.

A longtime enforcer on a Knicks team that leaned on his ferocious rebounding and lunch-pail attitude through much of the 1990s, Oakley is also a proud son of Cleveland, which honoured him recently by feting him with the street sign — Charles Oakley Way — in front of John Hay High School, his alma mater.

When Oakley returned last week, it seemed fitting that, just down the block, workers in hard hats were doing construction. Oakley, who still cuts an imposing figure at 52, did not see the symbolism. All he saw was the big mess on his new street.

“They making me look bad!” he said, deadpan.

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It was a good time for Oakley to be back in Cleveland. He had tickets that night to see the Cavaliers, months removed from their run to an NBA championship, open their season against the Knicks. And the Indians were back in the World Series for the first time in 19 years and looking for their first title since 1948. The success of both teams had the city buzzing, and Oakley was glad to be around it.

“I’ve been through a lot here,” Oakley said. “I’ve seen a lot.”

Oakley splits his time among Cleveland, Atlanta and New York, where he has a studio apartment outside the city. But his 81-year-old mother, Corine, still lives in Cleveland, and he considers the city home. He remembers when downtown bustled.

“The city used to have four legs,” Oakley said. “Now it’s got two and a half.”

As he maneuvered his SUV along Superior Avenue and approached his childhood home on East 123rd Street, Oakley pointed to some of the spots that he frequented as a boy, places that had been replaced or boarded up. The record store. The barbecue joint. The corner market. The barber shop. Back then, he said, the neighborhood was tightly knit.

“Everybody looked out for one another,” he said.

With the Knicks, Oakley averaged 10.4 points and 10 rebounds to help them advance to the playoffs in each of his 10 seasons with the team, from 1988 to 1998. He remains popular among fans who revered him for his no-nonsense approach. He once brawled with Charles Barkley — in a pre-season game.

“I didn’t try to be pretty out there,” Oakley said.

He is not a huge fan of today’s NBA, which he thinks is full of players who are unwilling to sacrifice for the greater good. These days, he said, everyone wants to be a superstar.

“That’s why there are so many bad teams,” said Oakley, although he does appreciate the Cavaliers’ LeBron James. “We cool. Cooked at his house before. Everybody enjoyed the food.”

An afternoon with Oakley is equal parts improvisational theatre and sports-talk radio. He would fit right in next to Statler and Waldorf, the hecklers from The Muppet Show. He is prone to sharing his opinions. He cannot help himself. Ask him anything.

On his brief experience as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats: “Guys don’t want to learn. If someone’s doing something wrong, you have to look the other way. I can’t do that.”

On Barkley: “He talks too much.”

On the truck driver who refused to merge behind him: “Dummy.”

His brand of — what is the word? — authenticity is not valued by everyone. Oakley has been estranged from the Knicks organization for years, a rift that stems, at least in part, from his inability to keep some of his more caustic opinions to himself. He has, at different times, criticized the team’s front office, coaches and resident stars. In 2010, he advised James to avoid signing with the Knicks in free agency, which hardly endeared him to the organization. He has also called James L. Dolan, the owner, a bunch of bad names.

Former teammates have encouraged Oakley to be more polite in his dealings with the team, but without much success.

“The boss don’t like me,” Oakley said last week. “I wouldn’t mind having a sit-down dinner with Dolan. I wouldn’t mind cooking him dinner.”

Pause.

“Might put something in it, though!”

Pause.

“I mean, I had at least 15 people try to set up a meeting. He won’t meet. I want to sit down to talk to him. I want me and him in a room. And lock the door. Lock that door!”

Another pause.

“I mean, he can have the police outside the door.”

Barry Watkins, a spokesman for Madison Square Garden, said: “The Knicks have fabulous relationships with almost all of our alumni. But when it comes to Charles’s relationship with the organization, he is his own worst enemy.”

On Saturday, the Knicks celebrated the franchise’s 70th anniversary by honouring several former players and family members at halftime of their home opener at Madison Square Garden. Oakley was not among them. He cannot understand why he has been exiled. To him, it is beyond comprehension.

“One day,” he said, “they gonna need me for something.”

Oakley has been at work on a cookbook — due out early next year, he said — and a line of “Oakley in the Kitchen” products, which range from hats and T-shirts to aprons and knives. The knives feature his old number, 34, on the blade. He whipped out his cellphone to show a photo of them.

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